One of the most powerful of Yasujiro Ozu’s
family portraits, Late Spring tells the story of a widowed father who feels
compelled to marry off his only, beloved daughter. Loyal Ozu players Chishu
Ryu and Setsuko Hara command this poignant tale of love and loss in postwar
Japan, which remains as potent today as ever—almost by itself justifying
Ozu’s inclusion in the pantheon of cinema’s greatest directors.

***

Noriko (Setsuko Hara) is utterly devoted to her widowed
father Somiya (Chishu Ryu, like Hara she is quickly recognized as another Ozu
regular). While attending a "Noh" theatrical play with him she focuses on a
lady she believes that he intends to wed. He isn't in actuality but he has
only told Noriko this to encourage her to get married herself and leave the
nest. Father feels it is time and doesn't want to burden his daughter's future
happiness. Noriko is obviously disturbed by this potential union with a
combination of jealousy and anger flashing subtly across her face. Her pain is
transferred to us in such a cohesive fashion that the sense of being a voyeur
in these peoples lives is almost embarrassing for the viewer.

No director even comes close to expressing the essence of "mono no aware" like
Yasujiro Ozu

(that
we experience the wholeness of life by encountering things (mono) and being
sensitive to them (no aware). Feeling without verbalization is a conduit of art cinema since
the silent era. Somiya's quiet 'hmms' to his daughter in regards to her direct
questions about his plans to re-marry are as memorable as any emotion I have
seen in film. I will never forget that scene, nor many others, in "Late
Spring". Another is how perfectly beautiful and fetching Setsuko Hara looks
after a bike ride with a potential suitor. They sit together and watch the
ocean, the wind blows in her hair and she smiles at him - more with amusement
at his pursuit of her than encouragement. She is far too content to worry
about men in her life and this is also expressed in a few smiles. Noriko is so
reluctant to adjust her simple and beautiful manner of living and challenging
it becomes agonizing and later her mannerisms display how distraught she is.

For me
"Late Spring" eclipses "Tokyo Story" as my favorite Ozu film. His
continued style of the 180 degree cuts when there is conversation is so
elegant, restrained and respectful. The emotion his films bring underplay the
directors constant future theme of bridging of familial conflict,
communication and unselfish love. One of the greatest films I have ever seen.

NOTE: The Criterion Late Spring
DVD and 2 Blu-rays are compared to all existing versions
HERE.

As with the
Forbidden Games,
The Virgin Spring,
La bęte humaineand other
recent 1.33 aspect ratio releases by Criterion (as well as, from the
past, Nanook
of the North) the image has been 'pictureboxed' to overcome 'overscan'
on commercially made tube television sets (overscan can be up to a 15%
loss of image... and this is significant!). Pictureboxing produces a
black border around the edge of the image and most DVD players
automatically zoom-in to fill the viewing screen - it limits resolution
making the image slightly less detailed than it might be able to
achieve. The benefit of pictureboxing is that it adds more visible
viewing area so that the majority of DVD purchasers (most people own and
watch through tubes) can see even more of what is on the negative - the
way the film was meant to be viewed. DVDBeaver feels that equipment
invariably improves at a much lower price and much faster these days and
catering to people with inferior equipment can easily come back and
haunt you when the hardware climate advances (it is doing so monthly).
I'll wager that tube TV's are selling at at much lower rate than other
viewing systems these days. We feel you will own your DVDs (especially
your Criterion DVDs) much longer than you will own your current viewing
system - I say this is true for myself having just purchased a plasma TV
today! (I will still own my Criterion DVDs long after this brand new
television is in the trashcan). The overscan problem associated with
tube TVs can be corrected relatively inexpensively (incremental zoom DVD
players, HTPC viewing, even some TVs now can zoom out to compensate
etc.). In the early days of DVD, Criterion justified issuing
non-anamorphic DVD editions feeling that player down-conversion was
poor. DVDBeaver also feel this was an error on their part although this
new issue has many sides - it is still up for debate and we welcome
opinions. I see that a petition has been created
HERE to encourage Criterion to dismiss this practice.

Criterion have done some extensive cleaning of the dirt and debris
prevalent on the existing available master but some vertical scratches
are still noticeable, often appearing highly visible (see bicycling
capture below). The Criterion is very bright and sharp with superior
black levels than we have seen to date. I believe they have meticulously
manipulated both contrast and blacks by hand in certain scenes. This
raises the perceived sharpness of the image and it DOES look better. Our
condemnation of this practice of altering original masters, is really a
form of restoration. Deepening the black levels which may have faded
over time and brightening spots that are clouded with dirt and debris is
acceptable as long as it is not a blanket approach. In, example, the
Panorama - the image was brightened, but not in segmented areas - but
through the entire film - and this is not appropriate. The trouble with
digital manipulation is that it can bring to the surface some usually
hidden defects (like scratches and blemishes). If the film is relatively
intact the digital improvement has a valued effect - much akin to
detailed restoration. The Criterion, pictureboxed and with warts and
all, is still the best this film has looked for a very long time and the
best image of Ozu's masterpiece on DVD.

The commentary is excellent from what
I have heard so far. I will report in detail tomorrow.

The second disc is Win Wenders 90
minute Tokyo Ga. Wenders travels to Japan in search of the Tokyo
seen in the films of Yasujiro Ozu. A fitting documentary for fans of Ozu
and the film.